1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of communication networks and, in particular, to voice authentication of a party to a call and providing call control based on the voice authentication.
2. Statement of the Problem
Telephone service and other associated services may be restricted to selected callers or may be tracked based on a particular caller. For instance, long distance calls may be restricted to selected callers, and the callers need to enter a Personal Identification Number (PIN), an access code, etc, to make a long distance call. Also, long distance calls may be tracked for billing purposes, and the callers need to enter a PIN, an access code, etc, associated with the caller that allows the long distance call to be tracked to that caller. In either case, the caller enters information thought to be unique to the caller, such as the PIN, the access code, etc. Unfortunately, this information is not secure as anyone knowing the PIN or the access code can represent themselves as the proper caller. The forging caller can then access telephony services and other services for which they are not authorized.
Another issue is verifying the identity of parties to a call over a telephone network, especially when confidential information is involved. Increased commerce is being conducted over telephone networks, which typically involves confidential information such as account numbers, credit card numbers, etc. Current methods of verifying the identity of a caller is to ask the caller for information thought to be unique to the caller, such as a private code, a mother's maiden name, a PIN, etc. Unfortunately, this information is not secure as anyone knowing the private code, the mother's maiden name, or the PIN of the caller can represent themselves as an authorized caller.
One solution to the security problems is to verify the identity of a caller based on their voice. Assume that Company X handles accounts for multiple people over the phone. To implement the voice verification, Company X would obtain voice samples from each of the account holders and store the voice samples in a voice authentication system. The voice authentication system includes a database that stores the voice samples of the account holders. The voice authentication system may convert the voice samples into voice prints, which are characteristics that are unique to a voice. Assume that a caller subsequently places a call to Company X to access an account, such as to purchase a product. A call center for Company X receives the call and instructs the caller to speak certain words or phrases. The call center collects voice samples from the caller, and transmits the voice samples to the voice authentication system for analysis. The voice authentication system compares the collected voice samples to stored voice samples to verify the identity of the caller. If the identity of the caller is verified, then Company X allows the caller access to his/her account. If the identity of the caller is not verified, then Company X will deny the caller access to the account.
One problem with the voice authentication process as described above is that it is an active process. The call center has to instruct the caller to speak words or phrases in order to collect voice samples. This can be inefficient and annoying for the caller. Another problem is that voice authentication has not been effectively implemented in communication networks, such as telephone networks, for the purpose of call control in the communication network.